Various types of known sunroof apparatuses serving as opening-and-closing member control apparatuses are disclosed. For example, a known sunroof apparatus corresponding to an opening-and-closing member control apparatus is disclosed in JP3339695B (which will be hereinafter referred to as Reference 1). According to Reference 1, in order to downsize the sunroof apparatus in a vertical direction of a vehicle, the sunroof apparatus is not provided with a mechanism for moving a movable panel and a sunshade mechanically in conjunction with each other. The sunroof apparatus is configured to control driving of a panel opening/closing motor and a sunshade opening/closing motor. The panel opening/closing motor moves the movable panel in opening and closing directions and the sunshade opening/closing motor moves the sunshade in opening and closing directions. In the opening-and-closing member control apparatus of Reference 1, the sunshade moves in the opening direction electrically in conjunction with the movement of the movable panel in the opening direction (the movement in the opening direction will be hereinafter referred to as an opening operation). In addition, according to the opening-and-closing member control apparatus of Reference 1, when a sunshade closing button (an operation button) is pressed by a user in order to move the sunshade in the closing direction (the movement in the closing direction will be hereinafter referred to as a closing operation) in a condition where the movable panel is in an opened state, the closing operation of the sunshade is restricted. As a result, the movable panel is restricted from being forgotten to be closed when the closing operation of the sunshade is conducted in a condition where the movable panel is in the opened state.
Further, a sunroof apparatus corresponding to an opening-and-closing member control apparatus is disclosed in JP2011-11735A (which will be hereinafter referred to as Reference 2). According to the opening-and-closing member control apparatus of Reference 2, when a movable panel (roof panel) and a sunshade (sunshade panel) are in an opened state, the movable panel is configured to close electrically in conjunction with a closing operation of the sunshade.
Furthermore, a sunroof apparatus corresponding to an opening-and-closing member control apparatus is disclosed in JP4153821B (which will be hereinafter referred to as Reference 3). According to the opening-and-closing member control apparatus of Reference 3, in a condition where a movable panel (slide panel) is in a fully closed state, a sunshade opening operation button (an operation button) is pressed by a user; therefore, a sunshade independently opens. In addition, in a condition where the movable panel is in the fully closed state, a movable panel closing operation button (an operation button) is pressed by the user; therefore, the sunshade independently closes. Further, according to the opening-and-closing member control apparatus of Reference 3, a movable panel opening operation button (an operation button) is pressed by the user; thereby, the movable panel and the sunshade open in conjunction with each other. Furthermore, in a condition where the movable panel is in an opened state, the sunshade is configured so as not to independently close.
According to the opening-and-closing member control apparatus of each of References 1 to 3, in the condition that the movable panel and the sunshade are in a stopped state, the operation button is pressed to thereby move the movable panel and the sunshade electrically in conjunction with each other. Accordingly, after the movable panel and the sunshade start moving, a subsequent moving status of each of the movable panel and the sunshade is not specially monitored. Consequently, even in a case where a position of one of the movable panel and the sunshade is configured to precede a position of the other of the movable panel and the sunshade between a fully opened state and a fully closed state during the movement of the movable panel and the sunshade in conjunction with each other, such precedence between the position of one of the movable panel and the sunshade and the position of the other of the movable panel and the sunshade may be reversed.
In particular, as illustrated in FIG. 7, while a movable panel 91 and a sunshade 92 are moving in a closing direction in conjunction with each other, an opening amount AP2 of the sunshade 92 in an opening formed at a roof portion may become small relative to an opening amount AP1 of the movable panel 91 in the opening formed at the roof portion. Thus, the closing operation of the movable panel 91 may be delayed relative to the closing operation of the sunshade 92 (that is, a position of the movable panel 91 and a position of the sunshade 92 may be reversed during the closing operation). For example, in a case where the sunshade 92 is brought in a fully closed state before the movable panel 91 is brought in a fully closed state, a status of the movable panel 91 may not be visually checked by a user. In addition, for example, the user may incorrectly recognize that both the movable panel 91 and the sunshade 92 are brought in the fully closed state. Furthermore, for example, in a case where the movable panel 91 inappropriately moves or an obstruction is detected at the movable panel 91, the closing operation of the movable panel 91 may be stopped. As a result, the movable panel 91 is left in an opened state and thus the sunshade 92 may be contaminated by rain or dirt.
Likewise, while the movable panel 91 is moving in an opening direction in conjunction with the sunshade 92, for example, the movable panel 91 is brought in a fully opened state before the sunshade 92 is brought in a fully opened state. In such case, the sunshade 92 receives wind to therefore flutter and thus noises may be generated.
In addition, the aforementioned reversal of precedence of the position of one of the movable panel 91 and the sunshade 92 to the position of the other of the movable panel 91 and the sunshade 92 during the opening/closing operation results from a difference between rotational speeds of a panel drive motor and a sunshade drive motor for driving the movable panel 91 and the sunshade 92, respectively. The difference between the rotational speeds of the panel drive motor and the sunshade drive motor is caused by variations in motor characteristics and mechanical configurations of the panel drive motor and the sunshade drive motor, a difference between slide resistances in the operations of the panel drive motor and the sunshade drive motor, a difference between temperature characteristics of the panel drive motor and the sunshade drive motor, and the like. Therefore, even in a case where the same specifications are applied to the panel drive motor and the sunshade drive motor, a long analysis time is necessary to conform the rotational speed of the panel drive motor to the rotational speed of the sunshade drive motor.
Further, a sunroof apparatus serving as an opening-and-closing member control apparatus is disclosed in JPH4-293617A (which will be referred to as Reference 4). According to the opening-and-closing member control apparatus of Reference 4, a movable panel (sunroof) and a sunshade are configured to open and close electrically in conjunction with each other. According to Reference 4, in a condition where both the movable panel and the sunshade are in a fully closed state, the movable panel is configured to start moving in an opening direction within a predetermine time after the sunshade starts moving in an opening direction. Further, according to Reference 4, in a condition where both the movable panel and the sunshade are in a fully opened state, the sunshade is configured to start moving in a closing direction within a predetermined time after the movable panel starts moving in a closing direction. Thus, for example, at the time of moving the movable panel and the sunshade in the opening direction, the opening operation of the sunshade may precede the opening operation of the movable panel. Meanwhile, at the time of moving the movable panel and the sunshade in the closing direction, the closing operation of the movable panel may precede the closing operation of the sunshade.
Furthermore, a sunroof apparatus serving as an opening-and-closing member control apparatus is disclosed in JPH7-276993A (which will be referred to as Reference 5). According to the opening-and-closing member control apparatus of Reference 5, a movable panel (panel) tilts and slides electrically in conjunction with tilting and sliding of a sunshade. In particular, at the timing of tilting the movable panel and the sunshade, a predetermined delay time is established to thereby tilt the movable panel and the sunshade electrically in conjunction with each other.
In References 4 and 5, in the condition that the movable panel and the sunshade are in a predetermined state (for example, a fully closed state, a fully opened state, and a tilting state), the movable panel and the sunshade move even in conjunction with each other. Accordingly, according to References 4 and 5, precedence between a position of one of the movable panel and the sunshade and a position of the other of the movable panel and the sunshade during the opening/closing operation, may not be restricted from being reversed.
A need thus exists for an opening-and-closing member control apparatus, which is not susceptible to the drawback mentioned above.